A member of the Apollo 12 mission (see Apollo Project), on 19 November 1969 he became the fourth person to walk on the Moon. With Pete Conrad, he made two long exploratory lunar walks, totalling some eight hours, and collected 27 kg of lunar rocks and soil for scientific study. He was commander of the second crew aboard the Skylab mission for two months from July 1973.

Bean left the navy in 1975, remaining as NASA's head of the Astronaut Candidate Operations and Training Group until he retired in 1981.

Bean was born in Wheeler, Texas, and in 1955 received a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree in aeronautical engineering from the University of Texas. He served in the US Navy as a pilot and test pilot before entering the space programme in October 1963. During his retirement Bean concentrated on art, producing pictures of the Apollo mission and other space events.